Though their names warrant mere mention in most high school history textbooks, George Catlin & Karl Bodmer were important figures in 19th-Century American history. Though they never held political office or won any battle single-handedly, these two men played key roles in shaping how we view the past. They did it not with a piece of legislation or with a gun, but with a paint brush. Though their names may not seem familiar, the images they created will be recognized almost immediately.

Catlin & Bodmer were two of the premier artists of Native American subjects in the 19th century. It is through their eyes and through their brushstrokes that we understand the Native Americans of the period. Though they were not the only artists to do extensive work with such subjects, and theirs was not the only medium that sought to capture Native American life, Catlin & Bodmer and their paintings provide a most vivid reminder of a way of life that no longer exists. Catlin & Bodmer sought to capture that way of life on canvass, to memorialize what was disappearing before their very eyes.

Below are some examples of the work of George Catlin & Karl Bodmer. As a whole the work of these two artists presents a very respectful portrait of Native Americans. Both artists sought their subjects out in the field, and both men strived for a level of specificity and authenticity. The paintings of Catlin & Bodmer do not portray the generic savage, but instead portray the Sioux, the Creek, the Mandan. But as a student of history you must ask yourself whether the work of Catlin & Bodmer is ethnography or art. What do the artists' portray, and what do they ignore? How are the portraits of people and ways filtered through the eyes, the sensibilities of George Catlin & Karl Bodmer?

(Craig Kind, University of California, Irvine, History Department)

The Paintings of George Catlin

(Click on the image to see a larger version)

	Wi-Jun-Jon (An Assinneboin Chief), 1844		Bear's Child, 1832
	The White Cloud, Head of the Iowas, 1845		Buffalo Bull's Back Fat, Head Chief, Blood Tribe, 1832
	Red Thing That Touches in Marching, Daughter of Black Rock, 1832		Buffalo Hunt Chase, 1844
	Bull Dance, Mandan O-Kee Pa Ceremony, 1832		Prairie Meadows Burning, 1832
	The Sioux Council, 1847		Battle between Sioux and Sauk and Fox, 1846-1848

	Bird of Thunder, 1845		Wah-Pe-Kee-Suck,White Cloud, "Prophet", and Counselor to Black Hawk, 1832
	Bear Dance, 1844		Buffalo Chase in Winter, Indians on Snowshoes, 1832-1833
	Bird's-Eye View of Mandan Village, 1800 Miles above St. Louis, 1837-1839

The Paintings of Karl Bodmer

(Click on the image to see a larger version)

	Mato-Tope (Four Bears), Chief Mandan (formal dress), 1834		Wahktageli, Yankton Sioux Chief, 1833
	Maksick-Karehde and Sih-Chida, Two Mandans		Mahsett-Kuinab, Cree Medicine Man (The Cree Chief, Le Sonnant)
	Abdih-Hiddisch – A Minitarre Chief		First chain of Rocky Mountains, Above Ft. McKenzie, 1833
	Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kusch, Mandan Village, 1833-34		Funeral Scaffold of a Sioux Chief, 1839
	Embouchere du Fox-River

Credits

My sincere thanks to Craig Kind at UC Irvine for sharing these photos with me and his introduction to them above.

These and other images by George Catlin & Carl Bodmer can be found at the following website:

Smithsonian American Art Museum